VANCOUVER, BC – April 27, 2006 – Natural food retailers scouting the best new natural and organic products found them at Expo West, held April 19 to 23 at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre in Vancouver, BC.

Produced by the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA), Expo West is Western Canada’s largest trade show and conference for the natural products and organic markets.

“Canada’s natural products sector has doubled in size in the last five years,” says Valerie Bell, President of the CHFA, the non-profit trade organization that produces Expo West. “This past weekend showed the industry has matured and in fact, is a significant contributor to the Canadian economy.”

Expo West featured more than 100 new products in over 500 booths in Exhibit Halls A, B and C. For a look at organic food trends, an entire aisle focused on the growing organic food sector with products for the retail as well as foodservice sector. The organic sector is the fastest growing sector in agriculture, with sales increasing at 20 per cent per year.

To learn about the latest industry trends, show attendees listened to an industry symposium featuring Deidre McMurdy, co-host of Money Wise on Global Television. The following days offered a workshop on selling natural body care products – an industry which is enjoying double-digit growth – as well as a bus tour of several organic operations in the Vancouver area. Over 20 product education seminars, including “Supplementation for Women’s Health and Fitness” and “Raw Greens: Detoxify, Purify, and Heal” rounded out the programming.

Highlights of the four-day expo and conference include a presentation from Chris Kilham, host of the real-life adventure series, Medicine Hunt, on the Healthy Living Channel. Kilham talked about his travels to the Amazon rainforest and his encounters with the indigenous cultures. He was sponsored by Nu-Life Nutrition which produces an antioxidant energy drink featuring a concentrated formula of açaí fruit.

General and specific pictures of Expo West are available upon request.

The Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) is Canada’s largest national trade association representing the natural products industry. Its 1,300 members include retailers, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers, consultants and other associations that are involved in a variety of industry sub-sectors such as supplements, vitamins, herbals, homeopathics, sports nutrition products, natural foods and organic products. The CHFA promotes the views and interests of its members and provides leadership to its members by promoting natural health products, whole foods and organics as the primary source of well-being for Canadians.